at the end of this year, there is this fiscal cliff. president obama has to solve it. austerity measures, a huge increase of taxes -- all this is going to happen if democrats and republicans do not come together, so i can offer three scenarios -- the first would be that there is no willingness of compromise, that they will just take the can down the road. it would be disaster for the u.s. and the rest of the world. second scenario -- a new willingness of compromise and coming together, and i do not think this is likely to happen, so there is scenario 3, that everybody has to give up something. this would mean, for example, for democrats that they will have to accept that there will be strong cuts in entitlements -- health care, for example. it would mean for republicans that they have to agree on higher taxes for the wealthy, for example. are they able to do all that by the end of this year? i do not think so, so i think they will buy time, and they will say this congress right now will agree on a couple of things but cannot solve all the problems until the end of the